In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to our in-person event with Oren Schneider, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, for his recent book The Apprentice of Buchenwald: The True Story of the Teenage Boy who Sabotaged Hitler’s War Machine, a true story of inner strength, resourcefulness and optimism. Of his grandfather’s life in the concentration camps, Elie Wiesel’s son once said, “Being an inmate of a Nazi concentration camp did not stop Alexander Rosenberg. It did not stop him from doing whatever he could to keep his father alive. And it did not stop him from sabotaging the Nazi war effort by subtly tampering with the weaponry he assembled.” In today’s program, Oren discussed his book with Reagan Foundation and Institute Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller.

Because of the war in the Middle East, we thought it would be a good idea to devote today’s podcast to Israel, focusing on the radio addresses written by Ronald Reagan before entering the Oval Office. So remember, he wrote these, on a yellow pad, without the oversight of a foreign policy advisor, without a secretary of defense or secretary of state or national security advisor hanging over his shoulder. These, from the late 70’s, came from his own pen. One entitled Palestine and the other Brezhnev. Overall, the politics of the Middle East was not the subject of many radio broadcasts in the late 70’s. Of course, as soon as he became President, Ronald Reagan met with Prime Minister Menachem Begin early in his administration and clearly defined America’s role and his objective focusing on peace.

It’s November and, of course, the month to celebrate Thanksgiving. From all of us at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, we wish you and your family the happiest and healthiest of Thanksgivings. In this week’s A Reagan Forum Podcast, we’re going to go back to 2018’s “Words to Live By” podcast featuring President Reagan’s thoughts and messages to the American people on thanksgiving.

Now this might seem an odd pairing…Israel and Thanksgiving. But, as of this writing, the war in the Middle East rages. While in America, we are focused on Thanksgiving celebrations, we cannot overlook the terrible pain, suffering, and yes, terror the residents of the Middle East are enduring. Therefore, in this podcast, we’ll cover the President’s position on Israel briefly, and then we’ll close in the second half with his heartfelt Thanksgiving remarks.

Last week was Veterans Day – a day to honor our nation’s military veterans. Commemorating this day on November 11th each year not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but also helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we go back one week to the Reagan Library’s Veterans Day Program, which included an honor guard, live music, and keynote remarks by LtCol Scott Mann (retired). LtCol Mann is a former U.S. Army Green Beret with tours all over the world, including Columbia, Iraq, and multiple tours in Afghanistan. He is also the bestselling author of Operation Pineapple Express, which is an edge-of-your-seat true story thriller about a group of retired Green Berets who come together to save a former comrade—and 500 other Afghans—being targeted by the Taliban in the chaos of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Forty years ago, President and Mrs. Reagan made an historic trip to Japan and South Korea. The President’s last stop was to Camp Liberty Bell, which was less than a mile from North Korean guns. Yes, they were quite near the DMZ. They attended an open air church service and the president wrote in his diary, that they were entertained by a choir of little Korean orphan girls. You might be surprised to know that our GI’s support and maintain that orphanage. Following the service, they went up onto a 500 foot promontory to Post Guard Collier where they met a patrol just going out. As you probably know, the zone is patrolled night and day. Still, they were so close, that they could hear the North Korean loudspeakers spewing their propaganda. He then toured the bunker and returned to Camp Liberty Bell where he addressed the troops. But to fit in, he chose to forget about the business suit…rather he wore his military, army assigned, POTUS khaki garb. He spoke in the mortar bunker area of the camp, which is located near the DMZ (demilitarized zone) dividing the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Let’s begin listening.

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we present Bret Baier – a number one bestselling author and award-winning anchor of Fox News Channel’s Special Report with Bret Baier. Bret had previously spoken at the Reagan Library four times, the last time in 2019 for his book, Three Days at the Brink: FDR’s Daring Gamble to Win WWII which was part of his Three Days series. This time Bret came to discuss his latest book, To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment, which showcases how George Washington rescued the nation and the Constitution three times: first by winning the Revolutionary War, second by presiding over the Constitutional Convention and ushering the Constitution through a fractious ratification process, and third by leading the nation as president in its first years. While at the Reagan Library, he sat down in conversation with Janet Tran, the Reagan Foundation and Institute’s Director of the Institute’s Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity.

In today’s podcast we honor our veterans and in the president’s messages to veterans, we’ll cover peace through strength. Going through our archives, both Citizen, Governor and President Reagan delivered many addresses saluting those who serve our country. Today we’ve chosen two – the first he delivered in August 1980 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The theme was Peace because, in candidate Ronald Reagan’s view, Peace was the first purpose of American foreign policy. So in saluting the sacrifices made by veterans, President Reagan is stressing that in order to protect these men, and find a path toward peace, we must focus on peace through strength. He covers why he thinks American foreign policy has been working against peace and how that trend could be reversed. In the second half of the podcast, we’ll hear when he addressed the American people in honor of Veterans Day 40 years ago in 1983. Of course, this address was focused on the veterans of both the Grenada and Beirut operations.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back just over a week to our October 21, 2023  in-person program with top rated Talk radio host and bestselling author Mark Levin for a conversation on his latest book, The Democrat Party Hates America. While at the Reagan Library, Mark was joined in conversation by Reagan Foundation and Institute President and CEO David Trulio to discuss what Mark calls the radically dangerous Democrat agenda that is upending American life. During the conversation, Mark Levin discusses the destruction he believes this country is facing, and rallies Americans to defeat the threat he sees in front of us.

After the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the President said in his autobiography that the “price we had to pay was so great, the tragedy at the barracks so enormous, and the virulent problems of Lebanon were so intractable, that it wasn’t possible to continue with the policy that had put our marines in without taking a second look at it. As President, he had very few choices and none of them easy. He didn’t want to turn tail and leave. He believed if we did that, it would say to the terrorists of the world that all it took to change American foreign policy was to murder some Americans. And, the President was a man of his word. He didn’t want to give up on the moral commitment to Israel that had originally sent our marines to Lebanon. And if we left, after more than a year of fighting and mounting chaos in Beirut, the biggest winner would be Syria, a Soviet client. The president wrote that “the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there.” By early 1984, the President gave an order to evacuate all the marines to ships anchored off Lebanon. So in this podcast we’ll hear the President’s beautiful eulogy when the bodies of the slain marines were returned home…along with those Americans who were lost in the Grenada maneuver. And then, in the second half, we’ll cover how the president chose to review the Terms of Engagement after the Beirut tragedy.

In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we go back just one week to October 17th when we hosted former second lady Karen Pence for a program and book signing on her latest book, When it’s your turn to serve: Experiencing God’s grace in his calling for your life. As she has said about this book, “This is not a memoir, not a book about Karen Pence, but rather a story about how God used me in a mighty way and how he gently and patiently showed me how to wear the mantle he was placing on my shoulders.” During this program, she sat down in conversation with Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller to discuss her book, her life, and her connection with God.

In 1982, the Israeli army leveled a siege on the capital of an Arab land – Beirut. They were poised on the southern edge of Beirut. And Palestinian fighters ran raids against their front lines and lobbed mortars in their rear areas; the Israel Defense Forces pounded back at the city with artillery, tank forays, and air strikes. The United States was caught in the middle. The Arab world blamed us, as Israel’s great ally and financial supporter, for all of Israel’s deeds and looked to us to end the fighting in a responsible way. The Lebanese government particularly relied on us to save them from outside predators and to help them restore Lebanese central authority over their country. In effect, every side wanted to squeeze the system for its own purposes, regardless of the cost to the Lebanese. Jordan wanted an Israeli settlements freeze; Israel wanted the US assistance stepped up. Lebanon grew fearful of renewed Syrian dominance as massive Soviet military resupply flowed to Syria, and warring militias battled each other beyond the control of the weak Lebanese central authority. In August 1982, America participated in sending a multinational peacekeeping force to Beirut. As hostilities increased considerably, additional help was required. So, in September 1983, Congress authorized the deployment of Marines for an additional 18 months. And one month later, tragedy struck.

In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we are replaying a favorite from 8 years ago this week, when football legend Terry Bradshaw shared stories with our sold-out audience. He spoke at the Library as part of our special exhibition which featured football and he didn’t disappoint.

Everything from eggs and car rentals to a night out at a restaurant is significantly more expensive than before the pandemic. The average family is spending about $700 more per month on the same goods and services relative to two years ago, according to Moody’s Analytics. So what does that have to do with Ronald Reagan you ask? Well, he was devoted to the idea that with government out of the way, the quality of life for Americans can improve. So 40 years ago, he delivered a radio address on the quality of life in America, which you’ll agree, is significantly different from today. And in the second part of this podcast, we’ll listen to a gem of a radio address, entitled “Looking out a Window” when he ponders a bit about life.

In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we go back to an event our Reagan Institute offices held on September 7th to bring attention to the plight of Jimmy Lai. Jimmy Lai is a Hong Kong businessman. A prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, he was arrested in 2020 by Hong Kong police where he currently is serving in prison for organizing illegal protests. During our program, which was co-sponsored by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the audience watched the documentary, “The Fight for Freedom: Jimmy Lai and Democracy in Hong Kong.” Following the screening, a panel discussed his case and the state of freedom in Hong Kong today.

Today, we’re well aware of the ongoing debate regarding how much aid we should send Ukraine, and exactly what our level of involvement should be. It’s a question many administrations have faced, and President Reagan’s was no exception. In his case, the hotbed was in the middle east, particularly 39 years ago, when Israel invaded Lebanon, marching all the way into Beirut. By October 1983, the conflict in the middle east, despite our effort to be part of a multinational peacekeeping force, well, the conflict continued to escalate. Syria, Hezbollah, they all engaged and the action was intense in Lebanon. So in today’s podcast we’re going to examine two radio addresses: one in 1978 focused on the UN’s aid to Lebanon and how the Soviet bloc did not fulfill its financial obligation, and then we’ll hear our 40th President’s perspective on our nation’s commitment to Lebanon in 1983. Of course, in both cases, the Soviet Union is supporting the enemy.

When President Reagan dedicated the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum on November 4, 1991, he said that he wanted the Library to be more than just a place where scholars interpret the past, but that he wanted it to be a dynamic intellectual forum where policy makers debate the future. What better way to honor his vision than to host presidential debates at his Library? Since 2007, the Reagan Foundation has hosted 5 republican primary candidate presidential debates: 2 in the 2008 presidential election cycle, 1 in the 2012 presidential election cycle, 1 in the 2016 presidential election cycle, and then our 5th one, just last week, as part of the 2024 presidential election cycle. At our debate, which was broadcast on Fox Business and was in partnership with Univision, Rumble and the RNC, six candidates took the stage. They were, in alphabetical order, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott. Approximately 700 guests watched the debate live in our Air Force One Pavilion, with another 500 members of the media on our campus watching in the filing center and spin room. In this week’s Reagan Forum Podcast we are replaying this debate.

So, Ronald Reagan and the Heritage Foundation: it was a truly epic partnership. In fact, it’s hard to tell the story of one without much of the other’s. Heritage was President Reagan’s favorite think tank, and Ronald Reagan was the embodiment of the ideas and principles Heritage holds dear. Some say that together, they blazed a new path for America. So I think in today’s podcast, we should focus on this significant partnership.

In this podcast we go back to September 12, 2019 when former Secretary of Defense James Mattis came to the Reagan Library to discuss his brand-new book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead.

In this podcast, we go back to September 10, 2019, when Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch came to the Reagan Library to discuss his book, A Republic, If You Can Keep It.
Let’s listen.